Mail-bag.



PATENTED DEC, 13, 1904 J. G. LIGHTHOUSE.

MAIL BAG.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR.17,1903.

H0 MODEL.

oboooooooxf'o H K/f WITNE55E5= 5 25 Patented December 13, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. LIGHTHOUSE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

MAIL- BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 777,214, dated December 13, 1904.

Application filed March 1'7, 1903.

To all whom it 'n'tcty concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN C. LIenTHoUse, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bags, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail-bags, and particularly to frames for the mouths thereof which are adapted to hold the mouth open when the bagis in the distributing-frame and which are adapted to be closed and locked.

The object of the invention is to provide an efiicient and compact device.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an isometric view of the mail-bag mouth supplied with this invention in a partly-opened position. Fig. 2 is an isometric view of a slightly-modified form. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a section on the line 1 4 of Fig. 2. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views.

The mail-bag 1 is attached to siX rigid and preferably metallic frame-pieces hinged together end to end in such a manner that pairs of the pieces may be folded inwardly between the remaining two pieces and then the parts may be locked together; but on separating two of the pieces the other four are straightened out until the mail-bag mouth is wide open and takes, preferably, a rectangular form. The continuous frame thus fastened around the mouth of the bag consists of a front piece 2 and a back piece 3, which form two opposite sides of the rectangle when the mail-bag mouth is open. Pairs of end pieces 4: 5 and 6 7 are hinged to each other, as at 8 9, and the ends of the pairs are hinged to the back and front pieces 2 3, as at 10 11 and 12 13. One of the main pieces 2 and 3, such as the back piece 3, bears a pair of staples 14. 15, and the side pieces 4.- 5 and. 6 7 have slots 16 through them, which when the side pieces are folded inward permit the staples to pass through said side pieces. The front piece 2 has slots 17 18, registering with the slots' in the side pieces and through which the staples project, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. A latch or catch 19 is pivoted at 20 on the front piece and is adapted to engage the staple 15 when the parts are closed in the shut position. The

Serial No. 148,186- (No model.)

said latch isalso provided. with a hinged and slotted member 21, that engages over the staple 14 and through which the staple projects, so that a padlock 22 may be used to fasten the parts in the closed position. A spring (not shown) is coiled around the pivot 20 and engages the pivot and the latch 19 and is adapted to throw the latch out of engagement with the staple and into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1.

In the modification shown in Fig. 2 the bag and its frame have the same construction, except that on the inner side of the frame-piece 2 is a lock .23 with double-spring bolts 2 1, which engage staples 25 on the back plate 3, and by reason of the beveling of the ends of the bolts 24 the engagement of the belts with the staples is automatic when the parts are closed together. The bolts may be withdrawn by a key in the usual manner.

The various pieces of the frame may be formed of channel-iron of such proportions as to nest or fold into each other when closed. This construction produces maxi mum strength and lightness. In both of these forms the side bars 1, 5, 6, and 7 may be slotted, if desired, or may be unslotted; but if the side bars are unslotted they must be shortened, in order that when the parts are closed they shall not project over the ends of the staples. In Fig. 2 the side bars are short and when folded together do not extend over the staples.

In order that the bag shall fold properly and shall therefore have the maximum wearing quality, a gusset is inserted between the side bars 1, 5, 6, and 7 and the adjacent portion of the mail-bag proper. This gusset may be of more flexible material than the mail-bag itself and when pulled inward by the folding of the hinged side bars is protected by adjacent portions of the bag, which is folded upon it. The gusset is made by fastening the base of the triangular piece 26 to the side pieces 1 5 and 6 7 and attaching the two remaining edges to two edges of a wedge-shamed projection 27 from the upper edge of the bag 1. The gusset thus produced projects in toward -and downward within the bag 1, and when the bag is open the parts of the gusset expand and a fold 28 occurs in the material of the bag at the base of the wedge-shaped projection 27. Then the bag is closed, the gusset folds automatically. The bag is relieved from strains and is protected from wear by the gusset.

VVhatl claim is 1. In a mail-bag, a bag having triangular portions extending above opposite sides of its mouth, acontinuous frame attached to the mouth, and composed of six rigid pieces hinged together end to end, the side pairs folding inward upon the two remaining pieces, the other two pairs being fastened to the edges of the month between said triangular pieces, and two triangular gussets, each having two of its angular sides connected to the edges of one of the triangular portions of the bag and the re- 

